Rhian Raises Hell

Posted on Sat Sep 17th, 2016 @ 2:21pm by Ronin & Jarad & Rhian & Amoja Paz

Mission: Further Challenges
Location: N

* Ning’Tao *

The soft murmur of voices pierced the fuzzy darkness that clouded Rhian’s head. Try as she might, she couldn’t understand what the voices were saying, but she could tell they were men. Little by little, coherent thought returned and she recalled the strange men storming the bridge. She remembered now that one had pointed a phaser at her and then….nothing. Dimly, she could hear Awf’s voice as he’d shouted at the man but that was all. She had no idea who they were or why they had invaded the Ning’Tao. She didn’t know if Awf and Paz were safe either and that worried her. Suddenly, a voice spoke at her ear and she immediately recognized the deep, silky tone. It was Jarad.

“Rhian? Can you hear me?”

She could feel his warm hand holding hers and she tried to nod. Slowly, she climbed back to full consciousness, enough that the light hurt her eyes. She finally blinked and opened them, squinting against the glow overhead.

Jarad reached up to tilt the light away and waited till her eyes opened. “How do you feel? You were stunned but nothing was seriously injured.”

Rhian thought about his question and took inventory of her body. Strangely, nothing hurt. “I..am...alright I think. Still a little fuzzy is all.”

Jarad smiled down at her. “That is normal. Things should right themselves quickly now. Don’t try to sit up yet though.”

“Got it.” She heard more talk from across the room and turned to see who was there. Standing by the door were the men who had charged onto the bridge and she yelped aloud. “They…”

The men began to laugh immediately and the one who had pointed his phaser at her approached. “Yeah, sorry about that. I didn’t mean to zap you so hard. I needed to make it look good though, and I have to say, it did. My apologies, kid.”

Jarad shot the man a look and rolled his eyes, knowing that was going to set off Rhian.

“What do you mean, it had to look good?” Her eyes narrowed as she looked up at him. “What’s going on? Where are Paz and Awf?”

“Oh, they’re fine. Paz is still here on the ship.” The man smiled now. “Awf’s probably locked himself in his nice, safe Fleet quarters. Ronin can tell you the rest.”

Rhian’s head had cleared enough now that she sat up, her gaze intent on the man. She delved into his thought and saw the ruse planned by Ronin and immediately began to curse him and every other male in the universe.

“What an...I can’t believe he would do...Ohhhhhhhh, just wait!” She glared at the man and when he moved out of the way, she slipped off the biobed. “Might wanna keep that bed ready, Jarad. Ronin may need it.” Without another word, she stomped out of the small sickbay.

Once the doors closed behind her, Jarad began to laugh. “I’ve said it many times but I’m glad I’m not Ro right now.”

The man joined in his laughter. “You and me both. What say we hit Iapetus?”

“Right behind you,” Jarad answered. “Ro’s on his own for this one.”

* Ronin’s Quarters - Ning’Tao *

Ronin had just finished checking in with Kaeli when Rhian’s voice echoed in his head.

Ronin!

“They at least could’ve warned me she was coming,” he muttered. She didn’t sound the least bit happy and he was certain she had learned the truth of the fake invasion. Before he could move, the doors to his quarters opened and Rhian stormed in. Before he had time to react, she took a swing at him and her palm connected soundly with his right cheek.

“How dare you??” she shouted. “How could you use me and let me get shot?? And make Awf think it was all real? What in the hell were you thinking?” Rhian stopped to catch her breath, anger blazing in her eyes. “I could just….ohhhh…..” She turned away and slammed her fist against his locker. She immediately regretted it and began to massage her hand. “Well?”

Ronin watched her in silence for a moment, then reached out to take her hand to examine it. She did her best to snatch it away but to no avail. Gently he ran his fingers over the fine bones in her fingers, checking for breaks. This touch also let him read her and he knew very well she was sifting through his thoughts too.

“You weren’t serious about him, it was just an amusement, wasn’t it?”

Rhian’s scowl deepened at the question. “None of your business. He’s a nice guy.”

“He is, which is exactly why he doesn’t belong here. This is not his world, Rhi. You know that as well as I do. He’s Fleet and a damn good pilot for them. This life? It would ruin him if he survived it. It had to be his decision though. Now? He’s safe back on 900 and out of the danger we face on a regular basis. Granted, there’s danger there too, but they have rules and procedures in place to protect their officers. All we have are our weapons, our quick reflexes and….”

“Each other,” she answered. “I get it, I do. But why didn’t you tell me ahead of time?”

“Because it had to look real. And I had no idea how much he read in your head. So, for you it was real. When your captor told them that he was taking you to satisfy my debt to him, Awf exploded. First he wanted to go after their ship. Paz and Falon pointed out that this was just the way it worked among us pirate types and that was the last straw. I finally let him convince me to go after you.”

“So what now?” she asked. “If he sees me on the station? Though I doubt after this he’ll show his face in the PIt.”

“Tell him we rescued you and that you don’t really know the specifics. Assure him you are alright and maybe sympathize with his decision. Tell him you understand when he apologizes that he can’t join you. Let him down easy, huh? He was pretty attached.” Ronin was satisfied that she hadn’t broken her hand and let it go.

“Yeah, I will. He won’t be happy but I’ll make sure he knows that I understand his position. I know as well as you this wasn’t the place for him for a lot of reasons. He’s idealistic and trusting and I don’t want him turning into someone used to our world. He’s too good for that.” She flashed Ronin a faint smile and rested her hand against his cheek gently. “You’re the other reason he couldn’t stay with us. You know very well what’s going on here. You may not want to admit it but I can read you, Ro.” Before Ronin could answer, she took hold of his ear with her other hand and twisted it hard enough to make him yelp. “But so help me, if you ever play me like that again I will hand you your ass. Got that?”

“Yeah, got it,” he answered, rubbing his ear gingerly. He understood her anger and it was justified. As for the rest of what she’d said, she was right - but he wasn’t going to agree with her or admit anything. “Rhian, about us….”

“Shut up,” she ordered, then turned and stalked out of his quarters. “I’m going to go chew Paz a new one.”

Ronin watched her go and knew he should warn Paz...but where was the fun in that?

* Paz’s Quarters - Ning’Tao *

Paz adjusted a framed photo on the wall, making sure it was lined up with the others on the wall. He stepped back and looked at the array. Each photo showed a different woman. He nodded, smiling. When someone knocked (pounded) on his door, he called, “Enter” without turning around.

“You are lucky I don’t kill you in your sleep,” Rhian fumed as she entered his quarters. “In fact I still haven’t made up my mind.” She moved to stand in front of him and jabbed her finger into his chest. “What you all did was despicable!”

He grinned at her and calmly said, “No, what’s despicable is luring an innocent little Fleetie onto a pirate ship. What we did was rightly scare him back to his safe place, like the little rabbit he is.”

“I would’ve handled it myself, you know,” she informed him. “If you and Ro and his boys hadn’t stepped in. What do you take me for anyway?? I know better than any of you he didn’t belong here. But noooo, no one can leave me to deal with my own situation. You all think I’m a kid don’t you?”

Deadpan, he looked her up and down and shook his head. “Kid? Oh, no. I don’t think that at all.” From the leer in his eye, it was apparent what he did think of her as.

“Stop that!” Rhian frowned back at him. “I already blasted Ronin for this. And you….just stood there and let that man shoot me. What if it had been a real invasion? What then?”

“Well... I knew it wasn’t, though. I wasn’t going to step into the path of that shot. If it had been real... well, that would have been life or death and Falon and I would have fought back. We probably would have had weapons on us, too.” He grinned again, obviously taking this all as a joke. He laughed lightly and added, “You are a spitfire, Rhian. Cute when you’re angry, too.”

“Stuff it,” she snapped back at him. “Now I have to go to 900 and deal with this mess when I run into Awf. I should make you do it but I don’t think anyone makes you do anything you don’t want to.”

“Quite right about that. That might describe this whole crew, though. Have you met the captain? I’ve heard she’s pretty stubborn.”

“I know her and you’re right, but she expects us to clean up after ourselves, not do what you all did.” Rhian prodded him in the chest again. “I told Ro that if he ever plays me like that again, I’ll hand his ass to him. Same for you. I don’t like being kept in the dark.”

He caught her hand. “Of course, no more keeping you in the dark. I hear you. How about going for conciliatory drinks on the Station? I’ll buy.”

She considered the offer and finally nodded. “Alright. Where is Falon? He isn’t coming is he? I still haven’t dealt with him but I don’t know if I will. He scares me a little.”

“I’ll protect you from him,” Paz smiled. “Besides, he’s one of the crew... he’d be foolish to try anything with you.”

“You have a point but I don’t think he would. He’s just a little...intimidating. Ready to go?”

“Yeah,” he nodded. “Come on. I know of this little bar. It’s next to a more popular place, so most people skip over it.”

“Iapetus?” she asked. “You know ….never mind. “Let’s go. It’s a place I know we won’t run into Awf.” She decided not to mention that the men from Ro’s little ruse would be there.

“Yeah! Most people don’t think about it,” he grinned and they set off for the bar.

****************
Rhian
Jarad
Ronin
Amoja Paz